kitchen table talk

December 4, 2017November 22, 2017

Thoughts on weight loss, tiny houses, and and a positive attitude.

We had our first Thanksgiving early with close friends last night. We will have Thanksgiving day with Grannie in a couple days. I can’t even think of stuffing right now. I ate heartily and couldn’t even move toward my desert for hours and then only a few bites.

I tried to be as vegan as possible but fell completely short with the use of some chicken stock in the stuffing, chicken gravy, and some ice cream on the pie. Oh, and I used cream of chicken with the cream of mushroom in the green bean casserole. So, I wasn’t even vegetarian. Drat. I baked a cruelty-free, hormone/antibiotic free chicken for the guest and I ate the Quorn Turk’y Roast, that was my only successful win. Turned out that everyone really liked the Turk’y Roast and I may have gotten away with skipping the chicken. With the Grannie Thanksgiving, I’m going full vegan. It’s hard when you cook a huge meal for none vegans. I just go with it.

I have been up early with the hens. Those girls are ridiculous. They are supposed to rise with the sun but they are always ready to go by 5:00 AM or earlier and I can confirm there is no light in the sky. I have been up earlier. I do this. I wake to pee and then I start thinking. Sadly, I seem to be a bit angry and negative in my thinking lately. I’ve noticed this in the middle of the night or when I clean the house. I have to do a lot of self-therapy. Some of it is private stuff and some of it is just old stuff that is left over from the past, childhood, the mother, blah, blah, blah.

So, here are the issues; my thinking is not so positive. I’ve been frustrated with some relationships and I’m sure they aren’t even wasting a second on thinking about me. It’s my own stuff. I’m not nearly grateful enough, I get things and then I want more or different or an upgrade instead of being joyful and present with what I have and where I am. I have been at this weight loss mission for a couple months and moving toward a fully vegan lifestyle and, although I’m getting better all the time and more committed, I’ve lost no weight and I’m not doing this as well as I could. I wanted to lose 50 in 1 year. I’m two months behind. Crackers!

I woke this morning fretting about all of this. I’m doing things wrong. Wrong with getting to fully vegan, wrong with losing weight, wrong with my state of mind…

And there are things I desire strongly. Not just to be slim and fit but also to be more at peace and love and happiness. It is possible. Well, there will be those days and moods, however, I believe it’s possible to be at least 90% happy and at peace.

I also believe that I should be able to slim down despite being in my 40’s. I just need to get it right. I can not accept this weight any longer. I’m 5’4″ and 200 lbs give or take a few ounces.

Then as a side note, I want to really educate myself on gardening and homesteading through the winter so that come spring I’ll have some garden success.

I began a search on Youtube for weight loss and veganism. I like videos. And I found some really fun and inspiring stuff. I happened upon HighCarbHannah and then her spouse and his wonderful DIY site. They are vegan and homesteading in a tiny house in Arizona. His show is so informative and he interviews other debt free tiny house homesteaders. Her site has great recipes and cooking tutorials. She also has a HighVibeHannah and this girl is very positive. She has overcome obesity and anxiety disorders, turning her life around completely. I really love the videos once her and her spouse move to Arizona and do their tiny house living.

Then there is TheVeganAthlete and I am just so amazed by what he has accomplished in Arizona. He has 200 fruit trees and 20 raised beds. And this is in Arizona! Hannah and Derek interview him on his property and it’s worth watching.

High Carb Hannah has a ton of great vegan recipes from pizza to sushi and chocolate ice cream. She also has a couple videos called “meal swaps” and it shows how fattening the vegan junk food is and how to make a similar dish but far lower in the fat and calories and salt.

If you are just starting out in the homesteading, tiny house…or vegan realm, these are fun, interesting, and creative folk to follow. If you want a simpler life, a healthier life, a positive mindset…try them out. They will lead you to others.

I spent hours this early morning with a candle lite on my nightstand, my coffee that my good husband brought to me when he rose at 4:30 AM, and I watched vlog after vlog.

I am now motivated to go into the next phase. On a positive note, I am 95% vegan now (let’s not talk about Thanksgiving). I am loving it, into it, immersing myself in the recipes and vlogs. After watching hours of Hannah I know exactly why I’m not losing weight and it has nothing to do with being older. I’ve gone from milk, cheese, butter, meat to alternative milk, cheese, butter, meat. I eat the veggies and fruit and brown rice, beans…and the vegan junk food. The mac and cheese, grilled cheese, faux meats, treats and so on.

Now, I have eaten well and lot’s of alternatives, processed foods, vegan junk food and vegan sweets and I haven’t gained an ounce in three months. If I was eating real junk, cheese, butter, milk, meat, I would have gained a lot of weight. So, a vegan diet, even with the faux meats and cheese, the sweets, is still less fat and calories and it’s easier to maintain a weight. Got it.

To lose weight one has to really go clean and basic. More plant-based, unprocessed foods. Fewer tortillas, bread, sweets, and alternatives. Use nutritional yeast in place of cheese, get the most natural and low fat burgers or make your own. Making your own pizzas and burgers from scratch so you can monitor the oil and salt. Tons of salads, veggies and fruit. That sort of thing. Less Dayia cheese, less vegan vanilla cake.

I am now ready to go from Vegan 101 to the intermediate to advanced vegan lifestyle to get as amazingly healthy, slim, and fit as possible.

The boys enjoyed watching the cooking vlogs with Hannah this morning and chose recipes to do with me. Last night Arjan showed his father some of the pilate moves he’s learned from our exercise DVD I do every other day. He told Bali he wants to do it every day with me so he can get really strong. Sammy would rather cook and Arjan would rather work out. What a perfect team I have and what a great, healthy lifestyle they are learning at such a young age. I think about how good it will be for them to see their mother set goals and work with devotion toward accomplishing them. To watch their mother get so fit and thrive. What a great life lesson to teach children.

Ok, so the other thing that I’m having a huge desire to immerse myself in and spend this winter educating myself on is as much homesteading as I can get Bali to agree to. I have ordered three books that I wanted for my personal library on backyard farming. I will also be watching TheVeganAthlete vlogs and Derek’s vlogs (the DIY Homesteading Projects). I learn so much from them. Another few vlogs to watch are Off Grid with Doug and Stacey:

And these will lead to more. I’m going learn all I can fit in my head during this rainy and cold time of hibernation. When spring comes I’m going to plant like a mad woman. I’ve already chosen a small greenhouse from Amazon. It’s on my “wish list” section.

Last but most important…the attitude. I have a greedy side. I can fall out of gratitude real quick, live in the future or the land of “I wish”. I am still not really, really loving myself. I like myself and even being so plump I still go out and I’m very active. I don’t have a big issue with myself or negative body image. But do I truly love myself? I had so many years of self-hate and I think I’ve only graduated to some self-acceptance with some residual unhappiness. I also still have some of my mothers crazy ideas about the world and how bad things are. I can go down a negative path quickly.

I’ve ordered some spiritual books from the library and I intend to work on this intensely until I have shaken out every bugga boo. I can’t afford to be negative, fat, and unhealthy. I have little people that adore me and I must be their real live heroine. Stay tuned, this will be a great journey and I’m sure I will have lots of books, vlogs, and new advice.

I can’t remember what I wrote for this post as it’s a month old but I agree with you. I can not ever diet again. I did just change my lifestyle as in I have gone vegan and I feel great and I never have to think about what I eat, I just enjoy my cooking, eating…living and being extremely healthy.

Several years ago I ended up in the emergency room due to stress, over eating, stress, not exercising, stress, stress, STRESS. After I was put in a room for overnight stay, I lay there after the Redneck and my son left to go home, just thinking of all the CRAP I had been stressing over, all the failures to control what was going on, anger,fear, you name it–I had messed it up. Now, I have never been a big fan of Dr Phil, but I swear that night I heard God whisper in his voice, “So, how’s that working for you?” I just let go of it all, weeping and releasing for a long time, then I slept. The next day I began my trip back to health. I rested a day or two, then began walking a mile each day. I gave up caffeine except for the occasional chocolate treat. I began studying my Bible again and praying. I decided to let all the crap go and not care about what people were saying about me. I concentrated on being a better homemaker, wife, and mother. I ate smaller, better meals, and used common sense for portion control. I made sure I had a fruit or veg for snacking handy. I wasn’t trying to lose weight, just feel better. About three months later i was at a women’s church group in a nice skirt and blouse. I noticed these women were staring at me, but didn’t know why–I hadn’t seen them since Christmas. At one point I stood up and stretched. My skirt hit the floor! I had lost some weight, obviously, but it wasn’t until I was at my chiropractor that I was able to weigh myself after he said how much better I looked. I had lost 34 pounds, I went on to walking 6 miles a day, and began blogging, vlogging, working with horses, writing poetry and being a much happier person. At that time I lost 62 pounds. Several years later, and I have gained some weight back, but nothing like it was before. I had decided to ‘reboot’ my lifestyle again, and while one of my goals is to lose some more weight, my main focus is always health and joy. As far as losing weight in your 40s, I was 52 when I lost the weight previously. I am now 60, and I have every confidence that I can lose some more, and you can too. Work towards health, joy and strength. Don’t worry if you can’t be champion homesteader of the year–enjoy what you have accomplished so far. My gosh girl, LOOK at what you have accomplished! You have written and published books, you bought a house and are turning it into a little jewel box. You are working towards a vegan lifestyle that you believe in, You are homeschooling two of the most adorable little boys on earth (next to my son, of course!), you have fought for your husband’s ability to stay in America, you overcame addictions, you forgave your mother and were there for her at the end of her life. STOP LOOKING AT WHAT YOU AIN’T DONE YET. Keep watching the videos, reading the books, planning and dreaming–they will inspire you and give you ideas that you can develop into what you personally need. Whew! Sorry, i got on a roll for bit, but that’s because I want you and other women to have confidence that you can have contentment and joy in your lives. Okay, I gotta go finish laundry, but know that I admire you, and you inspire me to reach a little further each day. Love you Katie girl!

I mentioned this to the Redneck. He says in a few years when we are finished with all the remodeling around here (especially the plumbing and electric) that would be okay. Until then, he said you need to remember it’s called HOMEsteading, not TRAVELsteading!

It is not you it is the food. You are already awesome. 150 years ago we did not have processed food and almost everyone was thin. This is Dr Doug Lisle (the psychologist for the McDougall Program) and he explains it well here.

I will watch this later for sure and I agree with this. Even 60 years back before the big stores and convenience foods came along almost everyone was thin. People walked everywhere as well. Packaged food and the suburbs…